15-1004m The Absolute
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Message 63-1201m An Absolute
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63-1201M AN.ABSOLUTE_ SHREVEPORT.LA V-17 N-10 SUNDAY_
« 1 † ` Doesn’t that just do something to you? It certainly does. Let us bow now in prayer.
2 Lord, as it’s been expressed to us in this lovely hymn, How Great Thou Art, and we think, this morning, what would we do if it wasn’t for You! And then when we think that You are so great, and then Your love constrained You to be so mindful of us, then my soul can scarcely take it in. It’s true. I pray that You’ll bless us today, now as we further go into the service, that You would break to us the Bread of Life, which is the revelation of Christ. For we ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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« 3 † Brother Ungren is a constant comer to the tabernacle. And he lives in Memphis, Tennessee, he and his mother, his wife. And the whole family comes to the tabernacle. And very seldom I get to hear him, because it’s always so busy, but this morning I was determined to hear him sing this song. He sings another, one of my favorites, Down From His Glory. And them are my favorite songs. And I had the grand privilege of meeting his father, this morning, the first time I’ve ever had that privilege, a fine man. And–and Brother Ungren, his father, will–will never go as long as his son lives, Morris, ’cause they certainly look alike.
4 And his wife, Brother Morris Ungren’s mother, has just lived these last fifteen years by the grace of God. She certainly has been a great inspiration to me, to see that; going through the dark hours that she has, and yet holding onto God’s unchanging hand. It expresses to us the genuineness of Christianity, and the faith of those that believe it. So, I’m very happy for that this morning.
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« 5 † We just had a wedding, downstairs. Two of my children got married, and my children from the tabernacle; our little Billy Simpson and the little Myers girl, they had been sweethearts for some time; Sharol, yes. They were… They also are relative here, or the little Sharol Myers is, to Brother Ungren and them. So, we are happy for them, I see they’ve taken their place, after getting married, go right back in the auditorium of the church, and sit down to listen to the service. Those children have always had a deep place in my heart, because they’re so respective to the Word. They–they just love the Word. I don’t think that, that I call them my children, I don’t think they’re any better than other children. But they just look to me, and I–I–I look to God for them.
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« 6 † Little Billy wanted to get married, and then he was afraid he was going to have to go at the army. And there was two or three of them in that same condition. And those boys come over to me, and said, “Brother Branham, we–we don’t want to be shirkers or anything, but we would like for you to ask God.” And they give me the basis that they would like to stay away from the army, if they could; not because they didn’t want to defend the country, in anything they could do. But the thing was, that if they–if they went, they was going to get among the wrong type of people out there in those (I don’t know what you call it) PX’s, or ever what you call it, and then they get out there where those half-nude women carrying on. That’s no place for a Christian boy, and so God granted their request.
7 And now little Billy comes this morning, to be married to this fine little Sharol, so we’re happy for them. And we wish them the very best in God’s Kingdom, for them.
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« 8 † And now this has been a grand time for us. We got a nice Sunday School class here this morning, a packed out church, so we are very happy. And many times, ministers, it–it encourages us to see the people come and hear you. Cause, you see, you don’t like to speak to empty pews, because they’re… We’d speak just the same if there’s one person here. But yet it feels good when you think, “If this one misses it, the other one will get it, you see.” And it makes it different, makes it glorious.
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« 9 † And now, just in the interviews just now, this is, if we can run into them just fast.
10 I met Brother Boutliere when I come out, and I hadn’t seen him since I been here. I said, “Where you been?”
He said, “Getting turkey dinner ready for them.”
And so I was telling him I had lost some. He said, “You?”
I said, “You haven’t changed a bit.”
He said, “Neither have you.”
11 I said, “That’s really diplomacy.” I said, “But, you know, I have. I’ve went from a hundred and seventy, to a hundred and forty-five, so I sure have changed.” My suits all, too, little too big for me. And someone just got me one the other day, so I could wear it down here; one that didn’t hang off on the shoulders, and the waistline lap over.
12 But I’m–I’m trying to do my very best for Jesus Christ while I have a chance to do it. And your fine attendance!
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« 13 † I was telling in the room just now, I seen the great Holy Spirit remove a cancer from a woman’s body, right in there. She’s a–she’s a woman from Texas. And a lady sit there, that I never seen a person more nervous, a minister’s wife, just a few moments ago. And the Lord showed me a vision of her sitting there, and I seen her. She called at New York, and she wanted to slip up here. She had just one five-minutes, then seen her husband suffering with an ulcer, and what caused the ulcer was his interest in his wife. Almighty God, quieten that woman sitting there. She is sitting, looking at me now. So, and also I want to tell you, brother, your ulcer is finished. See? Yeah, you’re going to be well now and return into the work of the Lord.
14 Now, when you see something that the Lord does, you–you just can’t fill up on it. You just want to keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going.
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« 15 † And, now, last night we had a great prayer service, and that’s good, that’s fine. Laying hands upon the sick, that’s a good thing. That’s all it takes, sometime. And then there is some that there is something back there, that they–they can’t catch, and you’ve got to get that person and find out what that is. See, there is something that’s hindering them, something laying in the way. And one little shadow will vibrate it away.
16 Now, the little lady in there a few moments ago, she was so nervous, so upset. Poor little fellow, she couldn’t even get her breath. She was just… [Brother Branham inhales and exhales, gasping for breath–Ed.] and just–just carrying on, see.
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« 17 † Now, the thing you have to do. Here is just a little inside, see. It’s catching her spirit. See? And then you are projecting to her your very thought. See? And you change your thinking. See? Then when it does that, then you can center her on Christ, and from there she can go on. But you’ve got to change her way of thinking, see. She can’t change it herself. She just run in a whirl, and you’ve got to pick that up. Now there is a little something that give you some… Don’t try to study it; don’t do it. Just believe it and go on.
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« 18 † How could that little baby, laying yonder in that mothers arms, had been dead since nine o’clock that morning, and just way in the night that night, where was that little spirit? You have to go find that spirit and bring it back. And then when you see it on coming back, then you can rise in the Name of the Lord and call it. See, then it’ll happen. But till you do that, you’re just wasting your breath, see.
19 It’s nothing–nothing so mysterious. It’s finding God, to getting yourself out of the way and letting the Holy Spirit use you to whatever He wants to do. That’s it. The main thing, of any gift, is getting your own ideas away, and let Christ. Then whatever It said, if you want to know whether it’s Christ or not… Just a sensation, leave it alone. But if it’s just an emotion, leave that alone. But if it’s written in the Word, then it’s God. Always judge everything, that any spirit tells you, by the Word. The Word, don’t never get away from that Word; if you do, you’re lost.
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« 20 † Now, ‘fore we stay till noontime, just talking like that, let’s just turn over in the Bible and read some Scriptures here. And then we’re going to… I love God’s Word. I know we all do. Now didn’t have…
21 I was going to preach, this morning, or talk, teach the Sunday school, on the hidden mysteries of God since the foundation of the world, being revealed in Jesus Christ. And I didn’t get a chance to run it all out. I forgot about the wedding coming, so I–I maybe get that the next time coming by.
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« 22 † Now I’m going to read some out of three places in the Bible. The first, I want to read from Philippians 1. The 1st chapter of Philippians, beginning with the 19th verse, and reading also through the 22nd.
For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
According to my earnest expectations and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be manifested in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I… choose I wot not.
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« 23 † Now over in the Book of Romans. And we want to begin at the 8th chapter of Romans, and the 35th verse, to build on what I want to take for a text.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulations, or distress,… persecutions,… famine, or nakedness,… peril,… sword?
As it is written, For my sake we are killed all… day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angel, nor principality, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, neither…
Nor height,… depth, or any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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« 24 † In Acts 2, and the 30th verse.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had swore with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
25 Now this is much Scripture, kind of going around from one place to another, in the Bible. But we know that, if this much Scripture has been read, we’re going to find something in There that’s going to–to help us. Now may God help us now, as I would like to take this subject, this morning, as the word of absolute: An Absolute.
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« 26 † Now we, when I was looking this text up, I went to the dictionary. I thought, “What? Somebody keeps saying, ‘That’s absolute, the truth. Absolute, this is it.'” I thought, “What is that word? What does it mean, absolute?” And I went to the dictionary to find out what it meant.
27 Webster says it is “perfect in itself, unlimited in its power, primarily an ultimate.” See, “unlimited in its power, perfect in itself, and it really is an ultimate,” the word absolute.
28 And I’d like to say this, and trust that you’ll catch these words, ’cause I’m not a trained clergyman in the how to, and the psychological way to bring a fascinating something that would hold the people. The only thing I do, is try to do the best that I can, on account of the friends that Christ has give me, and I–I–I want them to see what my thought is about Christ.
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« 29 † Now, every great achievement is tied to an absolute. You cannot run life without having an absolute. You can’t make an achievement without it being an absolute, for it is the final tie post. It’s the–it’s the hitch rack at the end of the journey. It’s a place where you are tied to something.
30 In the day that we’re living in now, and everything is so breaking up, so fragile and carried away, I think that this Message would be a very appropriate thing, especially to Christians when they are going through their deep waters now. The Christian church is passing through the deepest water it’s had for the last two thousand years. Because, we are coming to a spot to where there is something presented to Christianity, something they have to make a decision on, and I think that the Christian church ought to have something that they know that they are tied to, instead of just floating about like a leaf upon the water, the wind. As the Bible said, “Carried about by every wind of doctrine.” The winds come and blow the little leaf this way, and then another wind comes, the north wind, the south wind, the east wind, the west wind. You’ll never get anywhere, you’re not stabled. The Christian life should be a stabled life. It should be something that’s–that’s a principle that–that you are tied to, that is more than life itself.
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« 31 † And you must have something that you’re tied to. Some people are tied to their business. Some are tied to their families. Some are tied to a creed. Some are tied to the army post. We have different things that we are tied to. But I think, as a Christian, we ought to be tied where we know is right, see. Because, you might be tied to your family, and your–your wife could leave you. You might be tied to the army, and you might get killed. And you might be tied to any different things, and it’s got an end. But there has got to be a final tie post. There has got to be somewhere that–that man has got to tie for his Eternal destination. Because, if you’re going to trust it in your work, when your work is finished, it’s done. When your family is taken, it’s over.
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« 32 † But there is only one thing that I think is the final tie post. And I believe that Paul had a tie post in his life here. And I’d like to–to side in, if we’d call it that way, and speak on that tie post. He said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Now, Christ was Paul’s Absolute. It was his tie post. It was his. It was the end of all arguments. It was Christ, was his tie post.
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« 33 † Paul didn’t always have that tie post. He used to be tied to the group of the Pharisees. And he had to be trained and educated, so that they would accept him and let him tie himself to their post. But one day he was on the road down to Damascus, and he met Jesus, face to face. And from there he cut loose from his Pharisee-ic tie post; and re-tied himself again, that Jesus Who he knowed was crucified, died, and rose again. Paul knew it because he met the Person. That changed him right there. He was never the same from then on. He never just met a book. He never just met a–a creed. He met the Person, Jesus Christ. “Who are You, Lord?”
He said, “I am Jesus.”
34 Let’s think of that conversion, for a few moments. I believe Paul was a sincere man. Being that this is Sunday school, we want to teach it like a Sunday school. Paul, I believe, was a deep, sincere man, and there was–there was nothing about him that was any different from anyone else.
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« 35 † All those prophets were man just like we are. The Bible said so. Saint James 5, “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are,” he had his up’s and down’s, his in’s and out’s, “and he prayed earnestly it might not rain.”
36 And Paul was the same kind of a man like we are. He had his flustrations, his doubt. And he was an honest man. He was going to one of the finest sect of religions that there was in the world. And he was becoming a teacher of that sect; taught under a great teacher, Gamaliel, which was one of the most greatest teachers they had of the day. His parents seen to it, seen that there was something in Paul’s life, and worked hard to send him away to school, that he might be taught in all the laws of God. And, with a deep sincerity, he believed every word of it.
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« 37 † And he had heard of this kind of a lower class of people, and how there had been a prophet, so-called, by His group, that had raised up in Galilee, that was supposed to perform miracles and heal the sick. But his–his sect that he belonged to would not accept this Man of being a prophet, this Jesus of Nazareth, because He had not identified Himself with them. So Paul couldn’t go it, because his own sect of–of people didn’t believe in It. And they had warned him against such.
38 And Paul, being honest, thought, “If this thing is not of God, and my church says it’s not of God, then there is only one thing to do, is get rid of it.” Said, “Get it out of the way, because it’s a… it would be a hindrance, it would be a growth, a malignancy,” against his sect of believing. So he purposed in his heart that he would go out and cut this “malignancy,” as he called it, or his church called it, away from his fine Pharisee-ic group.
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« 39 † One day, with letters in his pocket, from the high priest, to arrest all those people that were in that condition, because that would have been the charge that Paul was set to. He was on his road down to a city called Damascus. They had them quietened down, around in Jerusalem. So he had–he had stoned Stephen, and Paul had him stoned, give witness and held the coat. Now he’d go down here and do the same thing, and get rid of this great hindrance.
40 But about, it must have been about noontime, around eleven, twelve o’clock, he was stricken down. And when he did, he looked up and there was a Light standing before him. And a Voice coming out of this Light, saying, “Saul, Saul,” a question, “why are you persecuting Me?” Now Paul knew, or Saul, rather, knew that his people had been following that same Light since they come up out of Egypt. And if…
41 Did you ever see the Lamsa translation of the Bible, the old… The–the old Hebrew sign of–of God is a triangle Light; more or less, something like that, that the three attributes of God, in one Godhead. And this triangled Light, the three in One, being one God, was a–a sign to the Hebrew, of God, Light.
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« 42 † And then when Moses met Him in the bush, then He said, “I AM,” which remains the same, three; yesterday, today, and forever, still the same God. And Moses met Him in the burning bush. He was a Light. And when He led the children of Israel out of the wilderness, He was the Angel of the covenant, that Moses by faith saw, and forsook Egypt, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater treasures than that of Egypt. By faith, Moses saw that that was Christ, the Anointing. And the Anointing was upon no certain man, but It was in a form of a Pillar of Fire. See?
43 And then that same Anointing came down at His baptism, and went into Christ and dwelt in Him. John knew it was Him. He said, “Upon Whom thou shall see the Spirit that led them out of Egypt into the wilderness, and out of the wilderness into the promised land, upon Whom thou shall see this triangle form of God coming down and remaining on, He is the One that’ll baptize with the Holy Ghost and Fire.”
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« 44 † Now Paul hadn’t been privileged of seeing this yet. But just to make it true, to you, the Jews were so forbidden to bow before an idol, or anything like that! Now when he saw this great Light, he knew that that was the Lord. Lord means “ownership, control of.” He–he would have not called just anything “Lord,” that staunched Hebrew, when he knew that That was Spirit. But notice, he knowed that that same Pillar of Fire had been the One that had led his people. And then he comes back and said, “Lord, Who are You? Who are You? I want to know Who You are? You met Moses in the name of ‘I AM.'” But I’ll stop there with their thought, just a minute.
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« 45 † Jesus, when He was on earth, anointed with That that they saw, notice, He said, “I come from God,” the Spirit, the Light, the Pillar of Fire, “and I return to God.” And He was made flesh in order to die for our sins. Then after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, after He ascended up; on the forty days, He ascended up; and on the fiftieth day, He returned back in a form of a Pillar of Fire, among the people, and separated Himself, like tongues of fire, and set upon each of them. And then they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and begin to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
46 See, God separating Himself; God first in a great Pillar of Fire; God manifested in a human body; now God separating Himself among His people. The Pillar of Fire breaking up, and setting upon each of them, like forked licks of blazes, cloven tongues set upon them, forks of fire, cloven tongues like fire set upon each of them. And they were all filled with That, and begin to speak with tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
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« 47 † Now, you see, we are not a divided people, we’ve got to be in unity, because each one of us holding a part of God. And we must come together, and then the Pillar of Fire is manifested in the wholeness, in the fulness of It; when His Church sets together in Heavenly places, then the fulness of the power of God is in His Church. Each one of us holding spiritual gifts and spiritual offices, coming together, brings that Pillar of Fire back again.
48 And Paul recognized that being of the Lord, and he said, “Lord, Who are You, if I’m persecuting You?”
49 He said, “I am Jesus, and it’s hard for you to kick against the pricks.”
50 And Paul was commanded to rise and go down in the street called, “Straight.” And there was a prophet there who came up, by the name Ananias, and saw a vision, and baptized him. And he was went down into Arabia, for three years, to study the Scriptures, to see about what this Pillar of Fire was that appeared to him.
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« 51 † Now we find that Paul, the rest of his life, had that for a tie post. He had met God, face to face, and was commissioned by God. What a tie post! What an Absolute! That was the end of all arguments. That was the end of everything for Paul. All strife, everything was gone. I don’t care what the Pharisees said, the Sadducees said, or anybody else; he met God vindicated by the Word, that settled it! That was the rest of his life. Because he had seen God manifested, and had been proven to him that It was God, by the Word, and by the shape and form that He was in, and by an audible Voice that spoke to him exactly what it was. Now, that was a great thing. No wonder he could say, before the–the Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the Heavenly vision.” He was tied to it. There was something real, something that he knowed, something that nobody could take away from him.
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« 52 † Now, today, if we’re trusting only in a education, or a–a mechanical way of–of education to explain the Bible, then we’ve only got it from a–a mental conception. But no man has the right behind this pulpit, to preach the Gospel, unless he has come face to face with It.
53 Like Moses, on the backside of the desert, no matter how well he was educated, whatever had taken place; his fears and flustrations left because he stood on a sacred ground with God, that nobody could take it away from him.
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« 54 † And every man or woman that has an experience with God, has met this same Pillar of Fire upon the sacred grounds of your heart. “There is no theologian, no devil, no nothing,” Paul said, “nothing present, nothing future, death, sickness, sorrow, can separate us from that love of God, that’s in Christ Jesus.” It’s a tie post. You know something happened. No matter how much science raise up and says this, that, or the other, you are tied. You and God become one. He is in you, and you are in Him. “At that day you’ll know that I am in the Father, the Father in Me; I in you, and you in Me.” You are tied to Him.
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« 55 † And Paul had a–a Christ-centered life. It was a different life than he once had. He once had an educational conception; but now he has got a Christ-centered life, an absolute. No matter how much Agrippa could say, “You, you’ve gone crazy, Paul. You lost your mind. You, you studied too much.”
He said, “I am not mad.”
56 And then he got onto Agrippa, to such a way till he said, “Thou almost persuadest me to be a Christian?”
57 He said, “I wish you were, only besides… as I am, but these bonds.”
58 It makes you do things, when you get a Christ-centered life like Paul had, ordinarily you wouldn’t do. Now look. Ordinarily, that man trained in all of the–the Scriptures and things, ordinarily he would have followed that line he was trained in. But when he become… and made Christ his Absolute, his Ultimate, then there was a different life. He did different. He done things crazy, to what he once was trained to do. And it’ll do the same thing.
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« 59 † If the church would get away from that Council of Churches, and come back and make God’s Word their ultimate, make God’s Word their tie post, that would do it. But they’re tying to a man-made achievement. And it’s bound to fall. Well, the Bible said they would do it. But there is going to be a Bride that’s been elected since the foundation of the world, that’s going to be tied to that tie post.
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« 60 † I can see Eternity break, come down into time, since Eden. And, when It did, there come a line of Blood, all the way up unto Calvary; and from Calvary, tied with this line, and goes on to the tie post, Jesus. And someday when He comes to claim His Own, everyone that’s tied to that ultimate will be raised up into Eternity. Why? They have been in Eternity all the time. They were predestinated in Eternity. They are part of God. They were in His thinking at the beginning. And when that big rope is pulled, of the line of Blood, that Token I was speaking of, when it comes up from the earth, everyone that was included in that Blood will be dropped right up into Eternity again. But the only way it’ll be, will be tied to that Absolute, Jesus Christ. It’s absolute! Not an achievement of man; but God raised Him up from the dead, and He is an absolute. And we know He’s alive, because here He is with us in the Power of His resurrection, doing the same thing He did when He was here on earth.
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« 61 † I’m tied to that Ultimate. That’s the end of all strife. I’m tied to it. That’s my life. I was a sinner when Christ saved me. I met Something. And since That came into me, it’s been–it’s been different. And I’m tied to it, everything that I am is tied right there. And then God separating His life, and let me live in Him, and Him in me, then we’re tied. I…
62 It don’t make any difference what others want to believe. To the individual, you are tied to That. [Brother Branham pats his Bible–Ed.] That’s your ultimate. That’s the… that’s the last word. And then if He is the Word, then This must be the last word. This must settle it. Whatever That says, That’s that scarlet thread. That is Christ. And anything contrary to That, I know nothing about it. That’s what we want to know, is what this Word says; for I am tied to Christ, and Christ is the Word. You get it now? [Congregation says, “Amen.”]
63 And the portion of His Word that’s lotted for this day, His Holy Spirit is here to manifest that portion of Word.
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« 64 † Just like it was back there at His birth. Isaiah 9:6. All down through the Scriptures. Everything was spoke of Him, it was fulfilled. Over in the Book of Luke, we say it’s… we see it that. And He was the end, He was the–He was the end of the prophecy, too, of Him. He fulfilled that, the history, the songs, everything in the Old Testament, that spoke of Him, it was fulfilled right there. That become the ultimate. That become the tie post of the Word of God for that age.
65 And the real borned-again people of this age, that’s filled with the Holy Ghost, is the tie post of this Scripture that’s got to be fulfilled in these last days. They are the ultimate. It’s God’s ultimate, because it’s His Word; and the Word is Christ, the tie post. There is no way to get away from it. Something that holds you.
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« 66 † As I said, it makes you do things that you ordinarily wouldn’t do. It made Paul do things he ordinarily wouldn’t do. It made Moses do things ordinarily he wouldn’t do. It makes every man and woman do things they wouldn’t do ordinarily. It’s something that you are–are centered to. It’s something, It’s your stabilizer. It’s like the…
67 It’s the anchor to the ship. The ship is tied to the anchor, in the time of a storm. And if Christ is your Absolute, you are tied to Him. In time of trouble, the ship, if you let it rock, it’ll break against the–the–the–the rocks. But what they do, they drop the anchor. The anchor drags until it snags into the rock foundation. And the ship is tied to the anchor. It’s the absolute for the ship.
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« 68 † And a born-again Christian is tied to Christ, and the Bible is the anchor. It’s the thing we’re tied to. Let the organizations, let the different thing, let the science, let the educators say anything they want. As long as that Word says it and promise it, we are tied to That. There is something won’t let us move from it. That’s right. A real borned Christian, they stay with that Word. If It says a certain thing to do, and a way to do it, that’s the way we must do it. No matter what anybody else says, That’s what God said. We are tied to That, a Christ-centered life.
Christ, again, it’s like the North Star.
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« 69 † You know, the world turns around. And the stars, really, the one you see as the evening star, is also the morning star. The world just turns around to it. But it shifts away from those stars, all but the north star. Now you can’t set your compass upon the evening star and get anywhere, ’cause the next morning, what? You’re in the evening star in the west, and the next morning you’re in the east. See, you can’t do it. But you can set it on the north star, amen, and hold her dead center. You’ll come out.
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« 70 † And that’s what a Christ-centered life is. When you’re lost, He is your North Star. Then, if He is the North Star, the Holy Spirit is your compass, and the compass will only point to the North Star. It won’t point to a creed or a denomination. It won’t point to a sensation, or whatever it is. It’ll hold steady to the North Star. He is your North Star. When you’re lost, you might shift with denominations, and things like that. But the compass, the Holy Spirit, will point you right straight to the Word, which is Christ, and holds you steady. Tie to That.
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« 71 † What if there was no north star, how would a man ever find his way on a foggy sea? What if there was no Holy Spirit to direct you to the Word of God, to manifest It and prove it, what would we do in this hour? The Holy Spirit points only to the Word. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word.” Not part of the Word; but every Word, all of It. Every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, that’s what a man lives by. He’s your Absolute in your life, He also is your North Star.
72 You know, we have to have something, another, to settle the end of strife.
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« 73 † You know, there was a time that when table manners rested upon what a woman said. I believe her name was Emily Post. I may be wrong on that. I think that’s right, Emily Post. I don’t care if Emily Post said, “Pick up your knife and eat the–the beans with it,” that was manners. Why? She was the absolute of table manners. That’s right. If she said, “Eat them with your hands,” you eat them with your hands. Why? This nation made her the absolute, to table manners. Yes, sir.
74 There was a time when Germany had a–an absolute, and that was Hitler. It was an absolute. I don’t care what anybody else said, when Hitler said, “do it,” you do it. You’d better. He’s the last word. Hitler was.
75 There was a time when Rome had an absolute, and that was Mussolini, the dictator. A man drove up one minute early for him, he shot him in his car and jerked him out, said, “I never said a minute early, I said be here on time.” An absolute! Whatever he said, they had to do it. It had to turn. He said he would make the whole world turn by his word. It turns by the Word of God!
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« 76 † There was a time when Egypt had an absolute. It was Pharaoh. I went down to Egypt one time, just to see those places. And you have to dig down twenty feet to find the thrones that they set on, the emperor of Rome; when I was in Rome and down in Egypt.
77 See, it all turned back to historical dust, because it was the wrong kind of absolute. That’s right. It’s wrong. It failed. It was man-made absolutes. And every man-made absolute and every man-made achievement must go to dust. They must go to dust. It’s the wrong kind, so it fails.
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« 78 † Just think of our nation. When we get in trouble, if somebody does something, and they try it here in maybe in a–a small court of the city, some police court, then it goes on, on, and finally it comes to the Supreme Court. Now, the Supreme Court is the nation’s absolute. That settles it. Now, in Canada, our friends from Canada can go, from Canada, to the Queen. But in the United States, it’s the Supreme Court. That’s the absolute. Sometimes we don’t like their decisions, but we have to listen to it anyhow. Yes, sir. We don’t agree with it, we don’t like the decision sometime, but it’s the absolute of this nation. The nation is tied to it. It’s the end of all arguments. When that Supreme Court says, “You’re guilty,” you are guilty. We have to have it; we don’t, we don’t have a nation. What if we didn’t have anything like that? Certainly. There is an absolute to everything.
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« 79 † There is an absolute in a ball game. That’s the umpire. Right. And if he says, “It’s a strike,” that’s what it is. Don’t care what you say, what I think, way I saw it, the way you saw it. It’s what he said. It’s an absolute. If he says, “Strike,” you have to agree with it, ’cause that’s the way it’s going to be wrote up, “strike.” What if there was no umpire, now who would be right? One said, “it was a strike,” the another one said, “it was not no strike; it was a ball, it was a…” Why, you’d have chaos. You wouldn’t know what to do.
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« 80 † There’s got to be somewhere that somebody’s word is final. Amen. I feel real good right now. Glory! Hallelujah! There’s got to be something that’s final. I’m so glad of that. Oh, now, there’s somebody who can say, “It’s sin,” or, “It’s not sin.” I’m so glad of that. I’m glad for an absolute. No arguing, no need of arguing. The umpire said, “strike,” that’s what it is; mark it up in your mind, “it’s a strike,” and go on. When God says anything, that’s the way it is! No need of arguing about it. That’s what it is. He said so. That’s the Christian’s absolute, that is if he is a Christian. God said, “Do it this way,” that’s the way it’s got to be done. No arguing, “Well,” say, “it wasn’t.” Nothing about it. God said so, that settles it! That’s the absolute to the real believer. Yeah.
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« 81 † What if there wasn’t something like that, where would we be? Would the Methodist be right, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, or what would be right? See, we’d have, that’s the reason that you–you’d have chaos. And that’s the reason. They’ve turned loose of that absolute, that’s the reason they’re straying with these other stars.
82 But there is an absolute. There has to be an absolute. There must be an absolute. And there is an absolute. That’s the Word. And what others say, it doesn’t matter. Yes, sir.
83 Now, if we didn’t have an umpire in a ball game, everybody would be pulling one another’s hair, and fussing and fighting. See? That’s the reason we need an absolute in Christianity, stop this pulling hair, and fussing and fighting. See? The Word said it, and that settles it. Don’t take to it or take away from it. Just leave it the way it is.
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« 84 † You know, there is an absolute to the traffic, that’s the stop light, the traffic signal. What if some morning it don’t work? Oh, my! Did you ever get in one of them? I have. No doubt, any driver has. What if that stop light isn’t working? Then everybody is fussing. They drive up there, and one say, “I was here first,” the other one say, “Let me tell you something, I got to get to work!” Oh, my! Them women swinging pocketbooks, and men fighting with fists, and you talk about a chaos! There has to be an absolute, something says “this is right,” and that’s it. When that light said, “stop,” it means stop. When it says, “go,” it means go. If it isn’t, you’re in trouble.
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« 85 † That’s the way it is in Christian life. There is a stopping place, and there is a going place. God’s Word is that absolute. That’s Christ. Yes, sir. If you…
86 If the traffic signals are not on, then we got a traffic jam. And I think that’s what we’ve got up there in the religious pentagon today; a traffic jam, of make-believers, unbelievers, and everything jammed together. You just got a traffic jam. Why? They don’t have no absolute. One say, “Well, we’re… We’re the absolute.” The other one say, “We’re the absolute.”
87 God is the Absolute. He said, “Let every absolute, otherwise than Mine, be a lie. Mine is the Truth!” So, there is the absolute to Christianity. That’s the end of all arguments. The Bible said so, that makes It right. Yes, sir. There must be an absolute in everything.
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« 88 † Some just like the churches today, most the churches has their own absolute. Each one has his own, something like the days of the judges, every man done the way he thought was right. But that ain’t right. See, that’s when God’s Word and prophets wasn’t in existence. The Word is the absolute. They had their own absolute. Each one says they are the Truth and the way, “We are the Truth and the way.”
89 But Jesus said He was the Truth and the Way, “the Truth, Way, and Light.” Is that right? [Congregation says, “Amen.”–Ed.] Well, then, He is the Word, so there is the absolute. And the denominational absolutes, nothing to it; it’s wrong, let it go.
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« 90 † Now, man does right in his own sight, but God has got a way for him to do it. See, when God and His Word and His prophets were missing, every man done just as he wanted to do.
91 And that’s what’s been in this day, each one says, “I–I belong to this.” Are you a Christian? “I’m Presbyterian.” Are you a Christian? I ask you. One girl said, “I give you to understand, I burn a candle every night.” Another man said, in the prayer line, I asked him if he was a Christian, said, “I’m an American. How dare you!” Like that’s got anything to do with It? See, they’re tied to a nation. The other one is tied to an organization, dogmas.
92 But a Christian means “Christ-like.” And only way you can be Christ-like is for Christ the Word to be in you. That’s the ultimate. Yeah. I seen this before I was converted, and I’m glad God got a hold of me before the church did. So I knew when I…
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« 93 † A fine Baptist minister, Brother Naylor, he’s in Glory today, he come down, he talked to me. And, oh, there’s many people that talked to me when I–I was trying to find God. The Seventh-day Adventist preacher wanted me to join up with them, and so forth. But I seen that if I was going to be a Christian, I–I couldn’t say, “Now I am a Seventh-day Adventist.” Now, that’s all right. “I’m a Baptist.” It’s all right, see, but I had to have something a little more sure than that. I–I couldn’t trust, because each one was wavering.
94 I thought, “There is somebody somewhere, you have to have something that’s true, somewhere.”
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« 95 † So I needed an absolute, so I took one, God’s Word. So I read in the Word that He is the Word, Saint John 1. “And upon this absolute, I’ll build My Church.” That’s right, so I took Him at His Word. Revelation 22:19 said, “Whosoever shall take one Word out of This, or add one word to It.” That’s the absolute. That’s the end of all strife. This is the absolute. “Whoever takes anything from It, or adds anything to It,” God said, “I’ll just take his part out of the Book of Life,” so That had to be the absolute. And Jesus said that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word.” Then I knowed this “every Word” had to be. Said, “Precept upon precept, and line upon line.” That’s the way It has to come, just as It’s written.
96 Then He said, “If ye abide in Me,” He is the Word, “My Words abiding in you, you can ask what you will.” I knowed then if Christianity was the Word of God. And He was the Word; and by accepting the Word, the Word lived through Him, then I know, “If ye abide in Me, and My Word in you, ask what you will.” And if you are in the Word and part of the Word, you’ll only ask what the Word tells you to ask. Know the day you’re living, then, and ask accordingly.
97 So therefore, back to the subject, makes… Talking now this personally, but I’m tied. I am tied to Jesus Christ, to Him, by His Word. He is my absolute.
98 I found that all these denominations and things had their absolute. Each one, each one, they have their own absolute.
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« 99 † The Catholic, when that pope says something, that’s it. That’s the absolute of the Catholic church. I don’t care what the priest says, what the bishop says, what the cardinal says; when the pope says it, that’s it. That’s the absolute. It’s correctly.
100 In the Methodist church and many of the Protestant denominations, what the bishop says, that’s the absolute. That’s all. What the creed says, that’s the absolute.
101 In the Pentecostals, it’s what the general overseer says, whether you can have this person for a revival, or not. That’s the absolute. You disagree his words, you’re kicked out of the organization. See, the Word ain’t considered at all. See? You get these absolutes, each one having his own absolute.
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« 102 † But, you know, I don’t say this sacrilegiously. I say it for truth. I feel like that way Paul did, when He said, in Acts 20:24, “None of these things move me.” “I am determined to know nothing among you; but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” I’m not bothered about these absolutes, whether it’s the pope, bishop, or a general overseer, or a counselor, or a system, or whatever it is, none of these things move me. I don’t care if they say, “Well, we–we won’t co-…” That don’t make a bit of difference. I’m determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ, His Word made manifest among us. I’m tied to That. That’s my anchor. I’ve anchored in That.
103 “Since I…” Paul said, “Since I met Him, on the road, I’ve turned around. I’ve… He straightened me out.”
104 My, how He straightened me out! What a straightening He had to do on me. But since He straightened me out, I got tied to It. I seen the Word was Truth, everything contrary to It was wrong.
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« 105 † You know what? He had a purpose in saving me. He had a purpose in saving you. And I am determined, by His will, to do His will. The reason He done it, I don’t know why He done it.
106 “Not add to It or take from It!” As I said, Revelation 22:19 said don’t do it. If He’s our Absolute, it cannot be otherwise. There is no way for it to be otherwise. He’s got to be the Absolute, the last Word.
107 You know, there were millions in sin when I got saved. He had a purpose in saving me. I’m the oddball amongst the brethren, many time; believes in predestination, seed of the serpent, baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, and all these other things that seems to be… and the visions, and the power of Christ returned back, and condemning organizations and things. I’m the oddball, but He had a reason to save me, a purpose for doing it. He saved me when there was millions of others in sin, but He saved me for some reason. There were educated man, there were smart man, there were theologians, there were bishops and doctors, and so forth, in the field, when He saved me, but He saved me for some reason.
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« 108 † And I see the Word is the absolute, and I’m tied to It, and determined I’ll know nothing else but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. He had a reason for it, and I’m determined to hold that reason. No matter what anybody else says, I don’t disfellowship them or discredit them, but I know what I’m tied to. He wanted me like this. He had me like this. I was made like that for a purpose. I had to be made up of all these qualities, and so forth, and all these no-accounts, so He could dig it out of me; put Something in there, that was His Word. And I’m determined I’ll know nothing else but Christ.
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« 109 † Christ’s death was an absolute. It was an absolute. It was the end of all fear to them that was scared of death. His death is an absolute, then.
110 People fear death. Even Job feared death. But when he saw the vision! He knew everything was gone; his family, his–his children. Even his wife had turned against him, because his–his stench of his–of his boils; he sat out of his house, on an ash heap, scraping his–his boils. And his wife even said, “Why don’t you curse God, and die the death?”
He said, “Thou speakest like a foolish woman.” See?
111 Then when Elihu talked to him. Some of these days, I want to break that name down for you, Elihu, and show you it was Christ.
112 When he had this condition, and everything was gone against him, then he saw the vision of the Just One. He wanted to find a Man Who could stand in the breach for him; put His hands on a sinful man and a Holy God, and stand in the way. And God let him see It, four thousand years away. It was his absolute. He raised up and shook hisself. Hallelujah!
113 When a man is scared of dying, raise up and shake yourself, look into the Word and see what the vision of God is.
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« 114 † He seen that vision, he said, “I know my Redeemer liveth, and at the last days He’ll stand upon this earth. And I am tying myself to it! Though the skin worms destroys this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; Whom I shall see for myself. I’m tied to it,” he said. He saw it. It was a promise of God.
115 He looked through the laws of nature. As I was telling you about the continuity of the law of nature, the continuity of the Word, the continuity of God’s action, everything is continuity. He had asked, in Job 14. He said, “There is hope in a tree, if it dies; the flower, if it dies; and so forth. But,” said, “man layeth down, and giveth up the ghost, he wasteth away. His sons come to honor him, he perceive it not. Oh,” then he said, “if Thou will hide me in the grave, hide me away and keep me in the secret place, till Thy wrath be passed!” He was scared of death.
116 But when he foresaw, being a prophet, saw the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he screamed out, “My Redeemer liveth!” Watch, he called Him, “Redeemer.” Watch. “I know my Redeemer liveth, and at the last days He shall stand upon the earth; though after my skin worms destroys this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” God and the Redeemer was the same thing, God and man made one. “I shall see God; Whom I shall see for myself, my eyes will behold, and not another.” Amen.
117 Not nobody else but that Redeemer, God, that’s Who my eyes behold. He’s an Absolute. He’s the Absolute. He takes all fears out of death. He takes all fears.
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« 118 † In Hebrews, the 2nd chapter, the 14th and 15th verse, watch. He took the form of man, to die like one, for all. He took the form of man. This Redeemer come down and was made man, so He could die, the one Man, for all man. Oh, how did He do it? What did God become a man for? To pay the penalty of man.
119 But, on Easter morning, He came forth with the keys of death, hell, and the grave. Amen. God, Who could die on the cross, and the graves couldn’t hold Him; nothing, hell couldn’t hold Him. Nothing could hold Him. He arose. He had the keys. He arose, a Conqueror, because He conquered both death, hell, grave. When He was on earth, He conquered sickness. He conquered everything. He conquered superstitions. He conquered everything there was to be conquered. And come out with death, hell, and the grave, the keys jingling at His side; and ascended on High, and gave gifts to man, and come back on the Day of Pentecost and handed them over to Peter, to the Church. Amen. He is our Absolute. All fears of death… Because He lives, we live also.
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« 120 † Romans 8:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We find out, I believe that’s Romans 5, we find out. And–and He is our justification. God raised Him up on the third day, to justify our faith, that we believe it. And He raised Him up, to justify our faith. What did He do then? He sent Him back, the Justifier, because our faith believes it. The Holy Spirit, Christ, come into it, for our justification, because we have raised from death unto Life. And now we are sons and daughters of God, sitting in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, justified us by His resurrection.
121 That give us justification, to know, with the–with the earnest of our salvation within us now, the very Life of Christ pulsating in us. And how then could we deny the Word? Which, He is the Word that gives us the… this assurance. The Holy Spirit is there. What is It? It’s still that North Star, the Christ is that North Star. And the Holy Spirit is that justification that points the believer right straight to the North Star. Right.
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« 122 † The Holy Ghost will always point to the Word. If It points to a creed or denomination, it is not the Holy Ghost. He couldn’t do that, point away from His Word, when He died to confirm that Word and make that Word a positive. Amen. He died so He could come, Himself, into that Word. He is the quickening Life that makes that Word live again. That was His purpose of dying, that He could still project Himself through His Church, and make every Word, through every age, act just exactly the way It’s supposed to act.
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« 123 † He is the Dynamics of the mechanics. The mechanics of the Church, what is it? Apostles, prophets, teachers, so forth. And He is the Dynamics that works that. And it’s worked by a certain dynamic which is called like… He, He is the Fire that fires off the gas. He is the Fire that’s in the combustion chamber, that when the–the gas, the–the Word, is poured over that combustion chamber, He is the One that sets her afire. He is the One that confirms it. He is the power of the resurrection. He is God. He, He is the Fire, that’s what He is.
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« 124 † “Without controversy,” said First Timothy 3:16, “great is the mystery of godliness; for God was manifested in the flesh, seen of angels, received up into glory.” He was God, come to take the sinners’ place. Yes, sir. And when He, God, raised Him up the–on the third day, was for our justification. Therefore, exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He is an Intercessor, to make intercessions upon our… for our weaknesses, as we confess it to Him, and die out to ourself; placing His Word back in us, the promise. And our faith makes that Word live, because Christ is in us, the quickener to the Word.
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« 125 † How I wish the church could see that, all arguments and strife would be over! That would be the Supreme Court. That’s the North Star. Hallelujah. That’s the end of all strife. That’s the end of all questions. That’s the end of everything. “God said so,” that’s the Absolute. Tie yourself to It. Paul said, “There is nothing present, nothing future, death, sickness, nakedness, peril, nothing can separate us from That.” We’ve tied to an absolute. Said, “For me to live is–is Christ, and to die is gain.” Nothing else holds but That there. That’s the absolute.
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« 126 † He is our Absolute because we have the assurance of the resurrection, because He is raised in us. How do we know? He lives. He does exactly here what He did when He was here on earth. He’s the same Pillar of Fire, we got the picture of there. He’s the same one in the Church. He’s here today, and in this body He performs and acts exactly like He did then.
127 If the life of a watermelon vine is put in a pumpkin, it’ll never bear another pumpkin; it can’t, ’cause it’ll be a watermelon, for the life in it is watermelon. “And if My… Ye abide in Me and My words in you, you ask what you will!” You’ll have watermelons. Amen. The Absolute, I know it’s Truth. I’ve tied my soul into that, and I know it’s the Truth. God’s Word, He’s our Absolute.
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« 128 † Second Thessalonians, the 2nd chapter, we read that. “We’ll be caught up with our loved ones, to meet Him in the air.” Oh, how my heart pulsates to every Word in His Book, “amen.” God said, “We’ll be caught up in the air, to meet our loved ones.” “Amen,” said the Word down in my heart, for the Word is in there.
129 “I’ve hid Thy Word in my heart, Lord, that I sin not against You. I bind them upon my fingers, upon my bedpost. Thou art always before me. I shall not be moved.”
130 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I’ll fear no evil, for You are my Absolute. I’ll go down through there, and You’ll pull me out. I go into the deep waters of my ship, You’ll… You’re my Anchor. Amen. You’re behind the veil there. You’re the One Who will steer me through the storm. You’re the One will be There, my Anchor in Glory, when I come down to the shadows of the valley, the shadows of death.” When I come down to the Jordan, when I have to cross over, He is my Absolute. I’m tied to the resurrected One on the other side, He will pull me through the dangerous waters. “I’ll fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Amen. Let the storms rage, life, death, whatever there is; nothing will separate. I’m tied to that Post.
131 That Post holds. It holds within the veil. It anchored. It anchored against God yonder. It anchored against my heart. The Holy Spirit is what stirs me to that promise. “I AM,” not “I will be, I was, I someday will be.” “I am the Resurrection and Life,” saith God. “He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die.”
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« 132 † Let death do whatever it wants to, it’ll never bother me. Because, I am persuaded, I am persuaded that even in sickness that might take me, or in a bullet from a gun, someday might take me. I don’t know what it’ll be. What difference does it make to me? “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Oh, my! Because, I’m determined I know Him sitting yonder across the river of death, where He’ll pull me into His Presence someday. Justified by His righteousness, that I have accepted of His death upon the cross, God made flesh among us; still flesh in us, still Spirit in our flesh. Amen.
133 He’s my Absolute. He’s my All. Anything outside of that, nothing in my arms I bring. I know nothing else besides Christ, and Him crucified; don’t want to hear nothing else but Christ, and Him crucified. My heart says “amen” to every one of His promise. That’s why I know His Holy Spirit is a Compass, It guides me to the Word.
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« 134 † Never has one of them visions ever said anything to me but what was right in the Word. Oh, that’s where I got my assurance, brother. That night when He told me about that, I’ve watched those visions. And I’ll call your attention, has that vision ever said anything that was contrary to the Word? Never a time has it ever been wrong. Why? It’s God. That’s my tie post.
135 And I know, one morning, in a vision, I seen my loved ones across the river yonder. It’s there. I’m bound for that promised Land. I got to meet there someday. Yes, indeed.
136 He is my Absolute. He is my Sun. He is my Life. He’s my Tie Post, my North Star. He’s all that I could ever think to be, He is that to me. He’s my Life.
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« 137 † Denominations, to me… Not hurting your feelings; I don’t want to do that. But the Word is like a two-edged sword, It can’t push without cutting, see, especially when It’s cutting in darkness. Notice, denominations are like other stars, they shift with the turning of the world. That’s right. Every way the world goes, they let their women cut their hair, wear shorts, and everything else, it just shifts with Hollywood and everything else. But, oh, brother, That still remains the Truth, that unmovable Word of the living God is still the Truth! It’s my Absolute. What It says is the Truth. Let the denomination shift anywhere they want to. They want to discredit the Name of Jesus Christ, with a title, that’s up to them. But, to me, “There is not another Name under Heaven given among men, whereby you must be saved.” To me, that’s the foundation Word, there is where the cornerstone is. I don’t want to shift with no denomination.
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« 138 † I’ve got my Compass here within me, the Holy Spirit, points me right straight to the Absolute. “For both heavens and earth will pass away, but My Words shall never pass away.” And I’ve hid It in my heart, and the Holy Ghost pointed me right to It. I’m determined to know nothing else. That’s my Absolute. Just let it be like that. That’s the way I want it. Oh, my! Now, brother, sister, make your Absolute in Him. Yes, sir.
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« 139 † In the time of trouble I had here not long ago, lost wife, children, everything. Somebody said to me, said, “Did you keep your religion?”
140 I said, “No, It kept me.” See? See, I had an Absolute, to know that someday I’ll see them again. Amen. I couldn’t have made it if I wouldn’t have had that Absolute. It made the difference in me, where I was tied, because I knowed that I’d see them again.
141 Now, by grace, I am tied to Him That said, “I AM,” not “I was.” “I AM,” ever, ever-present, omni-, omniscient, omni-, omnipotent, infinite, that He is not “I was.” “I AM,” He is still the resurrection. He is still the North Star. He is still everything, to me.
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« 142 † Moses had an absolute. When he met that burning bush, that was an absolute to him. When Joshua, when Joshua…
143 Oh, you know, sometime when you take an absolute, an absolute will lead you to a paradox. That’s right. Yes. A paradox is something that’s real, but can’t be explained. It’s a paradox.
144 When Joshua standing there, and seen he had need! God had commissioned him to go over there and take that land, whip out all them people, and–and put Israel in the land. And one day, the armies got routed, and out in the country. And the–and the first thing you know, he knowed he had them whipped, as long as he got them busted up. So, when he did, the sun was going down. And Joshua was tied to an Absolute, the Word of God, the Creator. He was tied to a job he had to do. Amen.
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« 145 † Sometime it ain’t pleasant to have to do it; you have to hurt feelings, cut and chop. But it’s an absolute.
146 He had need. He said, “Sun, you stand still, yonder! Moon, you hang right there!” And, for twenty-four hours, she stood still. Oh, talk about a paradox! But he was tied to an absolute, with a commission. Yes, indeed, God had commissioned him.
John was sure he would see the Dove when It come upon Him.
147 When I seen that Pillar of Fire, like Paul on the road down to Damascus, I knowed that was God’s Absolute, there was coming a revival was going to sweep the lands. I knowed It would forerun the second Coming of Jesus Christ, and I believe it yet today. It’s my Absolute, though it was a paradox. Sure, it was a paradox, for a Pillar of Fire to hang up there in the sky. And papers and everything taking the picture of It.
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« 148 † It was a paradox, the other day, on March the 15th, or May the 15th, I believe… no, March the 15th, this last year. When, three or four months beforehand, Sirs, What Time Is It?, said we’d go out there, “And seven Angels would meet, and come back and the–the Book of the Seven Seals would be opened.” And standing right there with Brother Sothmann, that just said “amen” there, standing there by him, why, I told them, “There would be a noise that would shake the country.” And I said, “It’ll be there. It’s THUS SAITH THE LORD.” It’s on tapes, tapes, tapes, from Phoenix all the way around. “It’s THUS SAITH THE LORD.”
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« 149 † One day, standing there, picking the cockleburs off, or a little bullheaders off of my legs, like it was; there that seven Angels broke through from the sky and shook the place, till, rocks, weighing fifty or sixty pounds, rolled down the hillside. There stood seven Angels standing there, commissioned me go back and to bring these Messages, and said, “One by one” they would “meet and tell what happened.” And it did exactly that way. And when they ascended up on High, like that, went thirty miles high in the air; and, on the same day, they took the picture of It, science did, and went around the world. It’s a paradox, but it was an Absolute. It tied me tighter into Jesus Christ, winding my life into Him. I know it seemed strange. It’s always.
150 It was a paradox for Paul, to meet Jesus on the road to Damascus. It’s a paradox when God changes a black, sinner’s heart and washes it white in His Own Blood. It’s a paradox. Certainly. Do you believe in paradox? And that paradox, if it’s according to the Word of God, it can be your absolute. Paul’s conversion was a paradox, and become his absolute.
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« 151 † Remember here, sometime ago, I was sitting with an old druggist, and we were talking in a little place. He said, “Brother Branham, I want to ask you something.” And he was a Baptist, himself. He said, “Do you believe in a paradox?”
I said, “Sure. Certainly do.”
152 Said, “I wouldn’t tell this to nobody else but you,” said, “but I–I know you believe this.”
153 He said, “During the time of the depression,” said, “they had to have an order, from the county, to get medicine for the sick.” And said, “One day, I was sitting back here in the drugstore.” Said, “My son was waiting on the customers.” And said, “I seen a–a woman come in.” Said, “She was… You could see she was going to be mother right away.” And said, “The little thing could hardly stand up. And her husband poorly dressed, both of them. And she leaned against the side of the counter. And he went over and asked my son, he said, ‘I’ve got a prescription here from the doctor.’ He said, ‘Would you fill it for me and let me take my wife on home?’ He said, ‘I tried to let her stand in that line. Just look down the street there,’ he said, ‘it’ll be four or five hours.’ And said, ‘She is not able to stand now, you can see.'”
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« 154 † And the young fellow said, “Sir, I–I can’t do that.” He said, “I’ll have to have that order first,” said, “’cause I–I can’t do that. It’s just against the rules.” And said…
155 His daddy said he was sitting back there listening, see what the boy said. And he said, “Just a minute, son. What is that?”
156 And said he walked up there. And the old man, a real Christian, a real sainted old man, he said, “What is it, my good brother?”
157 And he said, “Sir,” he said, “I’m… my wife, she is just ready to–to–to deliver.” He said, “I–I am… I got the order from the doctor here; some medicine, she must have it right now.” And said, “I–I took her down to stand in the room there.” And said, “I–I… Look at this line,” said, “I doubt whether I’d get in, this afternoon.” Said, “I just wonder if–if you could fill this for me?” Said, “I’ll–I’ll stand down there; I’ll–I’ll get the money for you, the order that the county pays for it.”
158 “Why,” he said, “certainly, sir, I’ll get it for you.” And just layed the order down, went back. He said his boy went on back and started waiting on somebody else.
159 Said, “The little lady watched out, two or three times. She just standing there, and perspiration on her face, knew she was very sick. And the brother standing there with his arms around her, you know, saying, ‘Just hold up, honey, now just a little longer.’ Said, ‘The good druggist is going to get us some medicine.'”
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« 160 † He said, “I fixed up the medicine as quick as I could, and filled my prescription.” And said, “When I started to hand it in her hand,” he said, “Brother Branham, I looked and I was putting it in a nail-scarred hand.” He said, “I seen the thorns on His brow.” He said, “I shut my eyes, and I looked back.” He said, “I realized right then, insomuch as I had done unto ‘the least of these My little ones,’ it was done unto Him.”
161 Said, “Do you believe that?”
I said, “With all my heart, doctor, I believe every word of it.”
162 What is it? He said, “Since then, Christ has been more to me. Because, doing that for that woman,” said, “it was a paradox. There is no doubt but what ordinary people wouldn’t believe that, but,” said, “I thought, just tell it to you, because I know you’ve had them experiences.”
I said, “Yes, sir. That’s right,” I said.
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« 163 † I remember, when, Saint Martin, reading of him. When he was just a–a boy, he was called of God. His people were pagans. And his father was–was kind of, oh, I don’t know, I think a military man, and–and it’s right for their boys to follow them. He said… one day going through the city there. I forget where it was now. And I think he was a Frenchman. And he said he was going through the gap; there was an old man laying there, freezing to death, very cold weather. And people passed by, wouldn’t give him nothing. And said he stood. And people was absolutely professing to be believers, and would go through, let the old man lay there. And he was begging for something to wrap him in, said he was freezing to death.
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« 164 † And Saint Martin goes over there, before his conversion, now, took his own coat, being a soldier, and cut it half in two and wrapped the old bum up in it like that, put the other around him. People laughed at him, said, “A funny looking soldier, with a half a coat on.” See, it makes you do things strange. There was something in him, that he believed that there was a God.
165 That night, after he had retired and slept a little while, woke up. Somebody woke him up, and he looked. Standing there by his bed, and there stood Jesus wrapped in that other piece of coat. That was the beginning of Saint Martin.
166 What was it? He had an absolute, that God’s Word is true. “What you do to these My little ones, you do it unto Me.” Brother, I’m tied to that Absolute. And I know that each one of you…
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« 167 † Instead of having an altar call, this morning, I think I’d like to have a consecration call. Let’s consecrate ourselves to this Absolute. Do you believe the Word is God’s absolute? [Congregation says, “Amen.”–Ed.] Do you believe He’s the same today that He ever was? [“Amen.”]
168 There is ministers in here, wouldn’t you like to consecrate your lives, just, just take an Absolute? What do we want today? What do we want with a fellowship card or a credential? We want Jesus Christ. We’re not tied to a fellowship card. We are tied to the Word of God, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Do you believe that? [Ministers say, “Amen.”–Ed.]
169 Let’s just raise to our feet now and consecrate our lives over. I want mine, also. I’m tying myself, afresh. I’m checking my tie, knot’s tied. I’m checking my absolute. “Lord, if there is anything in me, besides Thy Word, take it out. I know nothing else but You. I want to know nothing else but You.” Now, each one, in your own way.
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« 170 † I’ve been talking to you through the week. I’ve told you the Truth. God has confirmed the Truth. He’s made it over and over, and over again. You know what the Absolute is. Now to you and I, together, all you women, all you men, boys, girls, whatever you are, let’s; all you choir, all–all you people up here, everywhere, together; down in the basement, up in the balcony, around the walls, back in the wing; wherever we are, let’s take Jesus, our Absolute, for we’ve got to come to the valleys of the shadow of death. I know nothing else but Him. He is my Absolute, because He’s raised in my life and I know He’s real.
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« 171 † Let’s just raise up our hands now and pray. Let’s make our consecration service.
172 Lord Jesus, Your Word is from old, It’s the beginning and the end. I now, with this congregation, consecrate myself, anew, over this pulpit today. I ask for this church, the Life Tabernacle, for a consecration. Settle all the differences, let it all be gone, bygones be bygone. Ministers of the Gospel, who is worried… and thought something would take place. O God, we tie ourself, this morning, to Jesus Christ the Word; and determine to know nothing else but Christ, and Him crucified. O North Star, O Holy Spirit, O Compass of God, come now into every heart. And we consecrate ourselves to You, through Jesus Christ’s Name. Glory to God! Amen.
All right, brother. `
–Rev. William Marrion Branham
–copied from The Table Software, available from VGR
